The invention relates to a device for recording flight data with a data recorder located in a protective metal housing with thermal insulation.
A device of this kind is known from German patent document DE 32 43 495 C2, in which the information is recorded on magnetic tape.
On-board flight recorders are known from German patent document DE-OS 15 06 020, U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,067, and the periodical Interavia 10/1966 pages 1560-1566 "Flight Recorders for Accident Investigation and Maintenance." These flight recorders for recording flight data are located in a mechanically and thermally shielded housing. The housing is located on a plug-in module inside an aircraft or helicopter. The flight recorders weigh up to 10 kg and are accommodated in correspondingly large containers. A considerable expenditure of time and effort is necessary to install these containers in the aircraft since the device must be secured on a plug-in module. Moreover, it is disadvantageous that, because of the design size, it must be accommodated inside the aircraft and, in the event of an accident, the device can be damaged by heavy aircraft components impacting it, despite its reinforcement, so that flight data for evaluating the course of the accident are not available. Also, these devices are difficult to recover when the accident has taken place over water.
The goal of the invention is to design a device for recording flight data with small dimensions and low weight that ensures a high degree of data recovery reliability in the event of an accident.
The primary goal is to accommodate the device in areas of the aircraft exposed to only small degrees of damage in the event of accidents, in a way that is easily possible, and enables flight data to be recorded with increased information density. A high degree of data security must be ensured.
This goal is achieved according to the present invention by a device for recording flight data with a data recorder located in a protective metal housing with thermal insulation on the interior and with connecting lines between the data recorder and data sources. The protective housing is a hollow sphere with an outer diameter of 5-8 cm consisting of two, firmly-joined hemispherical shells. A hole for the data lines is located in the wall of the sphere. The data recorder is a solid-state memory recorder embedded in a block of casting compound filling the cavity in the sphere.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the hemispherical shells be force-fitted together. Further, the shells are advantageously connected together via a screw thread.
It is further advantageous for one hemispherical shell to be flattened in the area of the hole for the data line. At least one other hole is provided for attachment members for connection to a component of the aircraft.
In another embodiment according to the invention, several spheres are installed separately in the aircraft and are connected together by point-to-point or ring-shaped signal lines. At least one of the spheres is installed in a watertight manner in a life raft of the aircraft.
The recorder according to the invention is approximately the size and shape of a tennis ball and is thus very different in appearance from known devices.